Of Mirrors and Stowaways
by Darkwood Princess
Summary: Joanna McCoy gets far more than she bargained for when she stows away on a shuttle headed for the Enterprise. Mirror universes and Russian navigators are only the beginning.
1. Stowaway

**AN: This was an idea that randomly popped into my head. I've had a really bad day, so if this is super awful, I apologize. So yeah, this is pretty short but it will lead somewhere I promise! **

Joanna McCoy was never one to shy away from a challenge. She had done many stupid and crazy things in her short 17 years, but this had to be the craziest. More crazy than shouting Klingon curses at her stepfather, more crazy than hot wiring her father's (her real father's, not _Clay's_)old motorcycle to run away from home for a week, and infinitely more stupid and desperate than dying her hair that obnoxious shade of purple because she was supporting a friend in need, Joanna was now hiding aboard a shuttle bound for a spaceship. But not just any ship, oh no, the darling of Starfleet, the ship of her dreams, the Enterprise. Let Clay try to stop her now.

And at the helm, just returning from shore leave in Star City, Russia and offering to help bring up some supplies to the ship, was one Pavel Chekov, age 19, proud of his job as navigator and tactical specialist on said ship, completely unaware of the brown eyed, fast talking stowaway, hiding among the crates of medical supplies and old fashioned chocolate. Lord knew how the Captain needed his chocolate.

"Ze replicator does not make it just right, da!" He muttered to himself cheerily, enjoying the simple task that was piloting a shuttle. After all the work he put in on the ship, shore leave had been pure bliss, though Chekov would have been the first to admit that he missed the ship and her crew while he was away. In many ways the young navigator was just starting to understand the truth. He had a new family on that vessel, one that loved him for who he was, crazy accent and all.

Now he was on his way back, ready to dock in the ship and ready to return to his post. Had he known that there was a stowaway in the shuttle he might have acted a little differently, might have turned the shuttle around, might have kept going.

History forks without our knowledge. So it forked for one Pavel Chekov and Joanna McCoy.


	2. Caught!

**AN: This is one of those stories which kind of popped into my head during one of those random moments… Oh, and my birthday is coming up (January 11)! So I might not update so quickly… **

Joanna had to stifle a giggle as Chekov burst into song. The young man had no idea that he was being listened to as he sang Russian pop music with gusto. Since he believed himself to be entirely alone, Chekov sang as most people did in their showers: random and tone deaf. Even though Joanna could not understand the words, she could tell when her unknown pilot forgot the lyrics and went off on his own tangent. It was marked by a sharp intake of breath and than an almost nonsensical continuation of the lines, sometimes a repeat, sometimes what would have passed for in English as a 'la la la I don't remember the next line la la la'.

In between his singing and her nerves, the shuttle reached their intended destination. Peeking out from behind the crates she was hiding behind, Joanna gasped as _she_ came into view. The Enterprise. As beautiful as any vessel before or after her, the Enterprise rested in space dock, her shining hull a beacon to any passing ship. The awe the vessel inspired, the confidence she exuded floored Joanna. This was what her daddy lived on, this extension of dreams and will. It took humanity two whole centuries to get it right, but get it right they did and here was the result. The Enterprise.

Chekov, still oblivious to his guest, smoothly docked the shuttle in the ship's bay and turned around to get out. Joanna hunkered down behind the boxes, hoping that the curly headed pilot would pass her without noticing. She was tired and cramped from sitting in one position for two hours, but excited. Once the pilot left, she would hide out on the ship until it left space dock and began its next mission. Then no one could send her back right?

She hadn't counted on the pilot tripping over his own feet and falling over the boxes and onto her.

"Oh Crap."

"WHO ARE YOU?"


	3. Can I stay? Pleeeaaassse!

**So…it's been like 6 months since I updated this… Six months is like a gaping black hole! A big thanks to everyone who reviewed and encouraged me to continue. XD Here we go again…**

"Joanna Deforest McCoy! What the bloody hell did you think you were doing?" Joanna winced as her father shouted at her in frustration. It hadn't taken long for the young pilot (Ensign Chekov as she later found out) to sound the alarm and have her captured by a group of security agents. Not that she'd gone quietly. Oh no, Ensign Chekov and several of the security guards had black eyes now… black eyes her father would have to fix. _Crap._

" 'Deforest?'" That was Captain James Kirk, or Uncle Jim as she knew him, laughing in disbelief at her middle name. Leonard paused mid tirade to shoot Jim a dirty look. "What? Who gives their kid the middle name Deforest?" Jim shrugged at Leonard's continued glare.

"Who gives their child the middle name Tiberius?" Joanna shot back, ignoring the still furious look on her father's face. This was a game she and Uncle Jim had played many times when they were together, distracting her father to save the other one from his wrath.

"A mom who's related to a guy named Tiberius. I don't think you're related to a Deforest." Jim played along watching as Bones deflated a little, not much but enough to speak without being heard in engineering by Scotty and his crazy band of ship mechanics.

" He was some actor her mother loved." Leonard breathed out through a frown, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She was in labor and I was not arguing with her. It wasn't the time. That's not the point. The point is that Joanna is sitting her, in _space_, on the _Enterprise_ while her mother and guardian is still on Earth." Jim frowned at that, a frown which said _gee-I-hope-we-can-change-that_. Needless to say, Joanna loved Uncle Jim with a passion, almost as much as she loved her father.

Leonard shot his friend and Captain a look. "No Jim. No. We are not keeping her. Joanna is not some stray you can pick up and keep. She has to go home to her mother. Preferably soon. Preferably before I get roasted by Jocelyn's lawyers and stripped of the few custody rights I still have." His profound sigh of frustration and evident headache made Joanna feel sorry for her father, but not sorry enough to want to leave.

"Well… I could stay for a little while right? You could say it was some kind of exchange program or something through Starfleet! Mom would believe Uncle Jim and I would get to stay?" She pleaded with the men in front of her, hoping and praying that she would get the chance to spend some time with her father, as well as the chance to get to know the idiosyncratic boy who had delivered her there.

Jim looked thoughtful for a minute, pondering which particular loopholes he could jump through to keep the younger McCoy on the ship. Once, not so long ago, the elder McCoy had helped him fulfill a desperate dream and inadvertently saved Earth, and now to repay the favor in some small way…

"I'll see what I can manage."

XXX

Three tense hours later Joanna found herself sitting in the mess hall, an honorary member of the starship _Enterprise_. For the time being. Staring at her plate of replicated steak and gravy Joanna reveled in the beauty of space streaking past and a hard won victory. Jim had needed to pull more than a few strings to get her this sudden internship…

" Hello… we've never met," a green skinned Orion woman with brilliant auburn ringlets pulled out a seat next to her. "I'm Gaila. And this is Janice, Nyota , and-" Joanna smiled as the two other women next to the Orion and the blond named Janice let out short exclamations of confusion and surprise.

"Joanna McCoy, what are you doing here?" Christine Chapel's bewildered expression amused Joanna so much that she started laughing at the tall nurse, laughing at her and Nyota Uhura who had expressed similar sentiments. She knew Christine from some of her father's vid calls from space and Nyota from pictures after the Narada incident.

" It's a long story."

XXX

Pavel Chekov pushed the stroganoff in his bowl around and around as Montgomery Scott babbled on about his latest research into souping up the ship even more than her normal capacity. Frankly Pavel would have been fascinated on any other day. Of course on any other day he wouldn't have been attacked by a pint sized Georgia peach with a killer right hook.

He watched her from across the mess hall and wondered about how someone so close to him in age could be some different from his calm, almost nerdy self…

"Interesting lad, I finally found what distracts ya." Scotty smiled knowingly, following his glance.

"What, Mr. Scott? Oh," Chekov snapped out of his thoughts and blushed furiously. "No, no I just think it is interesting, yes? The Dr.'s daughter is unique." He watched as she laughed and joked with the women at her table.

"Aye lad. Unique is the word for it."

**AN: So for anyone who doesn't know, Deforest was the first name of Bones' actor from TOS… XD Reviews are awesome people!**


	4. Fencing

_**AN: So I kinda had this crazy idea that maybe Chekov's family were way, way back kinda special… You'll see what I mean. XD **_

He had tried to avoid her all week. All week. Chekov had even changed his routines, detouring around places he assumed she might be. Of course being a teenage boy who knew more about astro physics than girls, Chekov just decided that it might be a good idea to avoid the corridors around sickbay and maybe the in-ship hair salon…

So it was more than a bit of a shock when Pavel opened the door to the gymnasium where he and Hikaru practiced fencing to find Joanna McCoy hefting a practice sword and experimentally smacking it against her palms.

Pavel tried to turn around and head right back out the door when Hikaru Sulu, spotting his fleeing friend, hit the lock panel next to him. Chekov glared at Sulu, daring his friend to mention his presence to the oblivious Joanna and visually pleading for him to open the door. Sulu just smirked, cleared his throat, and announced to the world that, 'oh dear, I believe we have a guest'!

Curse melodramatic navigators and so-called best friends…

"Joanna you remember Pavel right?" Hikaru was being sly now, trying to prod things along that weren't even there as far as Chekov was concerned. For Czar's sake he'd only known the girl for a few minutes and she'd given him a black eye!

He expected her to frown and say "Yeah, I remember the guy who got me beat up by security." Or "Yeah, I remember the idiot who didn't know I was on his shuttle the whole way from Earth to the _Enterprise_."

Instead he got a smile and a "Do you think you could teach me that Russian song you kept forgetting the lyrics to?"

Chekov blushed red, remembering his off key pop music and tried to think of an answer to that. He was saved by Joanna's next question.

"So, Lt. Sulu, can Ensign Chekov there fence or did he just stumble in here on accident?"

Sulu grinned back at the mischievous girl and replied, " First off Joanna, call me Hikaru and the Ensign over there Pavel. There's no need to be formal around us. As to your question, well, usually he's my sparring partner but to tell the truth, he's not much of a fencer. He's a lot better with a Shashka or a saber." Curious brown eyes focused on him and Pavel turned even redder.

"My family vas part of the royal guard a long, long time ago. They protected the Czars." He muttered, shooting Sulu a death glare.

"Really?" Joanna smiled at the young man, hoping to hear more. "Did they pass the techniques down to you?"

"Dah, but they are useless in this age… Who needs to know how to swing a shashka when there are stars to explore and places to see." His voice was low, as if remembering a memory Pavel didn't quite want to face. Hikaru frowned, wondering if he had brought up something he shouldn't have. He was ready to change the subject when Joanna did it for him.

"Well, I'm not so great at this either but trying and having fun are better than sitting around and moping!" She brandished the sword at him and settled into a beginners stance that Chekov knew well from many practices with Sulu.

5 minutes into the match Joanna knew that the young man across from her was taking it easy on her. 10 seconds and a sharp smack to the head later she knew he was fighting for real. Hikaru just stood by and watched, enjoying the sight of his best friend and this girl who could grow to mean much more to Pavel than an adversary on this mat duking it out in a contest of will. The Russian had the advantage in skill, but, just like her father, Joanna had sheer stubbornness, the tenacity to continue on even when outmatched and outfought.

Hikaru just shrugged when both ended up sprawled out on the mat, too tired to continue. Some steam just had to be blown and some boundaries to be set. Maybe now Chekov wouldn't avoid the young Georgian. Maybe he'd stop being so thick headed.

But as Chekov apologized profusely for knocking Joanna down and rushed from the room, Sulu seriously doubted it.


	5. Guardian of Forever

**AN: So I know I don't update this one as frequently as I could, but it is one of my favorites. Be patient with me, I'm not very good at writing romance. I wish I was. The funny thing is that Original series Chekov would have been all over Joanna in three seconds flat if the Captain didn't beat him to it. NuChekov is quite a bit more timid. He needs time. XD**

"You know Chekov," Sulu said, poking his bunkmate awake, " you'd be a lot easier to believe if you didn't mumble in your sleep." Chekov blinked up at him with bleary eyes, still sore from yesterday's weekly sparring match with Joanna. Somehow Sulu had convinced him to continue practicing with the Doctor's daughter, and 2 months later, he was still getting strenuous exercise out of it. Sulu looked smug, arms crossed and eyes laughing. Pavel felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he recalled the dream he'd just been having.

" '_Oh Joanna, you have such beautiful, long hair… Can I touch it please?'_ For a guy who claims not to be attracted to the girl, you're throwing out some pretty coherent sleep talk." Hikaru's grin grew even wider when Chekov swore at him in Russian and threw a pillow at his head.

"Shut up. I do not like her like zhat. Vhat am I supposed to do, tell my subconscious to take a hike?" He muttered, rolling out of bed and catching the pillow Sulu tossed back at him. "I admit, she is pretty. But pretty doesn't mean I should, I don't know, pursue her?" Sulu rolled his eyes at his friend's obtuseness.

"Have you never had a girlfriend Pavel?"

"Have you ever had an angry doctor give you a physical, Hikaru?"

Sulu raised an eyebrow at that. "So you're scared of her dad. Is that it?"

Chekov stood there, indecision marring his face. "Yes, no, I don't know! I don't know her vell enough yet to even think about this Sulu." His best friend snorted but let the subject drop. There would be time later to bring it up again. It had taken most of his diplomatic skills to get the young man to even continue sparring in the gym with her. As much fun as watching the two vent steam was, Sulu had to admit, progress was slow as far as friendship went. Chekov was slow to open up, yet he seemed to want to talk with Joanna. Unfortunately, every time they were alone long enough to have a decent conversation, red alerts and ship emergencies kept getting in the way. Sulu hoped that he would be able to change that, forgetting a very important old adage:

Be careful what you wish for.

XXX

Joanna appreciated the fact that Christine Chapel was allowing her to stay in her quarters whenever she wanted during the duration of her stay on the _Enterprise. _She loved staying with her father, but sometimes he spent days in Sickbay and she felt a little lonely. Christine's wry sense of humor and the Ladies' Night gatherings in her quarters on Friday's with Nyota, Gaila, and Janice, made Joanna feel right at home when her father was busy. She understood that she was lucky to be able to stay on the ship for an extended duration of time and she was truly enjoying her stay.

The ship's latest mission had put them in orbit around a planet boasting ancient ruins. In particular, a strange stone arch had been discovered. After begging the Captain and her father, Joanna found herself staring in awe at the "Guardian of Forever". Next to her, First Officer Spock, who had thrown in the deciding vote in her argument to see the arch, continued his work, scanning the rough brown stone. Joanna knew Vulcan's felt no emotions, but she wondered if part of his motivation to help her had anything to do with annoying her father…

"Vhy does it only answer certain questions?!" a frustrated Pavel Chekov muttered in annoyance as he quizzed the Guardian as best he could, also scanning for any signs from the rocks. Joanna almost laughed at the expression on his face. She walked up to the young man and said innocently, "Maybe you're not asking the right questions?" Joanna tried not to smirk as the young man jumped a foot in the air. Served him right for avoiding her.

"Vell, vhy not give it a shot." He replied sourly, annoyed at being frightened so easily.

She smiled back easily. "Guardian, can you show me another world?" Nothing happened and Chekov felt the irrational urge to give in and say 'I told you so.'

"Here is one such world." The booming voice echoed out over the plains, startling the two of them backwards as colors swirled and settled into a familiar yet alien picture. They began to back away but not fast enough. An insistent tug later and the two young humans were pulled through the arch, propelled into another world. Spock, who had whirled at the sound of the Guardian's voice, knew that to follow them would be illogical, that the only option was to call the ship for backup.

"Spock to _Enterprise. _We have a problem."

**AN: Hope this was okay! Reviews are love people!**


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